Mouse Study: Time-Restricted Eating May Prevent Obesity.

mice prevented from eating at all hours avoided obesity and metabolic problems — even if their diet was sometimes unhealthful.” The 38-week study revealed that “mice eating at all hours were generally obese and metabolically ill.” In contrast, those animals that “ate within a nine- or 12-hour window remained sleek and healthy, even if they cheated occasionally on weekends.” Researchers at the Salk Institute for Biological Studies in San Diego and elsewhere began experimenting with the eating patterns of laboratory mice in a previous study. On that occasion, some mice consumed high-fat food whenever they wanted; others had the same diet but could eat only during an eight-hour window. None exercised. The mice that ate at all hours soon grew chubby and unwell, with symptoms of diabetes. But the mice on the eight-hour schedule gained little weight and developed no metabolic problems. Time-restricted eating didn’t just prevent but also reversed obesity, Precisely how a time-based eating pattern staved off weight gain and illness is not fully understood, but Dr. Panda and his colleagues believe that the time at which food is eaten influences a body’s internal clock. “Meal times have more effect on circadian rhythm than dark and light cycles,” Dr. Panda says. And circadian rhythm in turn affects the function of many genes in the body that are known to involve metabolism. http://well.blogs.nytimes.com/2015/01/15/a-12-hour-window-for-a-healthy-weight/?ref=health&_r=0